Ultrasound is utilized in many non-invasive medical procedures in order to detect and diagnosis a patient's condition. For example, ultrasonic scans are commonly used to detect and monitor the growth, viability and health of fetuses, to detect and assist in the diagnosis of liver, kidney, and other intestinal ailments, among others.
During these procedures, an ultrasound transducer head is placed atop or near the internal organ sought to be scanned. The ultrasonic image (generally resulting from the detection of sonic echoes by the ultrasonic transducer head) is displayed in essentially real time on a display monitor.
A significant number of ultrasound machines utilize user interfaces which are configured as knobs, slide switches, push buttons and other similar type tactile controls. The user must be trained to simultaneously hold the ultrasonic scan head on the body of the patient while adjusting the knobs, push buttons and slide controls on the ultrasound processor while further viewing the display monitor.
A difficulty arises when the physician or medical office wishes to upgrade the ultrasonic scan head or which is to replace or enhance the ultrasound processor unit electronically coupled to and driving the ultrasound scan head. In general, these ultrasound processor units were simply replaced with a larger enhanced model with a higher level of tactile control knobs, slide switches and push buttons. Of course, the number of tactile controls available to the user has a physical limitation in relation to the size of the overall processor unit. Further, the physician or medical office is required to train the user of the machine and the training is unique to a particular hardware and ultrasonic processing technique.
In the past, it has been necessary to purchase an entirely new ultrasound system if the physician wanted to upgrade his or her equipment. Prior art ultrasound systems normally did not permit upgrades by simply changing the boards internal to the machine casing. As a result, when technology made prior art systems obsolete, the physician was required to discard the entire machine, purchase a new machine and, more likely than not, learn to operate the new machine.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,417 to Glenn discloses an ultrasonic device with dynamic focussing of the ultrasonic transducer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,791 to Glenn discloses an ultrasound imaging system with a transducer, a variable delay circuit and a rotating mirror which directs the sonic pulses and echos to and from the transducer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,090 to Glenn discloses a rotating mirror in a scan or probe head. U.S. Pat. No. 4,257,271 to Glenn discloses an oscillating mirror in a scan head. U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,370 to Glenn discloses an ultrasound system with a single timing circuit which provides clocking signals to both the frame storage and the oscillatory mirror drive circuitry.